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| State, Group Pushing for High Speed Rail |
(IRN)-The high speed rail project that will connect Chicago and St. Louis is under way, and a Springfield-based faith group is asking government and business leaders to allocate money towards community based initiatives.
"What we're saying is, with the multi-billion dollar project, is to go in and…reallocate the monies that are already there," said Faith Coalition for the Common Good President T. Ray McJunkins.
McJunkins says he has sat down with faith-based groups throughout Illinois to come up with a list of seven initiatives aimed at helping communities benefit from the construction that's set to hit Springfield and work its way toward Chicago. The group's top priority is keeping jobs local.
"We will not tolerate…Union Pacific or IDOT bringing in workers from out of state to do what our local businesses should be doing," McJunkins said outside the Amtrak station in Springfield. "We want job opportunities to be available for people of color and women as well. And we would like IDOT and Union Pacific to put in the contract minority goals of 30 percent."
The group also wants relocation assistance for people who are displaced by the new railway, as well as green space initiatives along the tracks and support for small businesses along the tracks.
McJunkins says this won't cost any more money. Rather, the idea is to reallocate money already allotted to the project towards the group's initiatives. He says Springfield Mayor Mike Houston has supported the idea and he's reaching out to U.S. Representative Aaron Schock (R-Peoria) and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Representatives from McJunkins' group will meet with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood next week.
McJunkins says while the idea started in Springfield, he hopes LaHood will consider using it as a national model for states working on high speed rail. "Then all cities that are affected can use this same model, rather than reinventing the wheel," he said.
(Source: Illinois Radio Network) |
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| 06 03 11 by Newsroom |
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